The recruitment was a little different than expected, but Kentucky coach John Calipari got his point guard for the 2014 class.

Friday night, Chicago Marian Catholic lead guard Tyler Ulis gave a verbal commitment to the Wildcats during a televised announcement ceremony live from his high school shortly before the school's football team took the field.

The 5-foot-8 four-star guard is the fifth-ranked point guard in the 2014 class, checking in at No. 33 overall in the 2014 Rivals150.

After missing on Dallas area point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, Calipari quickly turned his full attention to the recruitment of Ulis, which moved extremely quickly. The Wildcats coach began courting the Chicagoan shortly after the July evaluation period ended.

Ulis is the latest Chicago high school star to commit to Calipari, joining Anthony Davis at Kentucky and Derrick Rose at Memphis.

The addition of Ulis not only gives the Wildcats a second Top 50 2014 prospect to pair with 7-foot post Karl Towns, could help secure a commitment from Ulis' close friend, four-star shooting guard Devin Booker.

Ulis also considered Iowa and Michigan State. He took two visits to Kentucky, the first an unofficial trip in which he received an offer from Calipari and the second an official visit to last week's Alumni Charity Game, which might have sealed the deal for the Big Blue.

As Calipari tries to put together another top-ranked recruiting class -- all five of his Kentucky classes have been No. 1 in Rivals' team rankings -- the addition of the tiny but skilled Ulis not only gives him a premier point guard to run his team, but also a prospect who will continue to be vocal in luring more players to Lexington.

Want more info on what Ulis' commitment means to Kentucky? Check back later this evening for premium analysis on why Ulis chose UK, and what to expect going forward with the 2014 recruiting class.